'Hair' at the Gielgud Theatre

I let the sun shine in tonight with my first dose of 'Hair' in London - I saw the same production with largely the same cast in New York back in February and the hippies are even more contagious on this side of the Atlantic. A great time was had by all and the excellent cast were rewarded with a spontaneous standing ovation at the end - I don't think I've ever seen people get to their feet so quickly and clap along so happily.

There's been a lot of publicity about the show over the last few days with the formal opening night last night and I think we reaped the benefit of the cast being on a high and wanting to love us into submission - and they did. The energy on stage, the professionalism, the excellent choreography, the music and songs, it all worked just right. Needless to say, I loved it!

It's the story of Berger and Claude and Sheila and their hippy chums in New York in 1967 experimenting with sex and drugs with social change and the Vietnam war in the background. Berger is out to have fun, with lots of sex and drugs, Claude is torn between the counter-culture and supporting his country, and Sheila is the hippy radical who helps to levitate the Pentagon and is introduced as Joan of Arc.

Other hippies are Woof who isn't homosexual but wants to go to bed with Mick Jagger, the pregnant Jeannie who loves Claude who is oblivious to her and Crissy who lost the address of the man she loves after one meeting and lives in hope of seeing him again. Some of the songs are designed to shock (like 'Sodomy') and most are relatively short and strung together to add pace and movement. The hippies leave the stage a lot and invade the audience, running down the aisles, handing out leaflets inviting us to a be-in and handing out flowers (my flower is in a glass of water at the moment).

The show opens with 'Aquarius', a great opening song that sets the scene nicely. Unfortunately I've yet to see Sasha Allen, who plays the part of Dionne, since she was off the night we saw the show on Broadway and was off again tonight, but we had the excellent Phyre Hawkins tonight with her big voice (and enormous wig!). The cast were all in great voice and, just as in the Broadway production, I'd single out Gavin Creel (as Claude) and Caissie Levy (as Shelia) for special praise, both with excellent voices and charismatic performances.

The two stand-out scenes for me tonight were the title song, 'Hair', in which both Claude and Hud crawled over the seats in the stalls during the song, touching and stroking the audience (Hud made it to our row K). It was a powerhouse of a scene with the hippies all over the stage and out into the audience, powerful music and those classic words. The other scene I'd pick out was Claude's closer to the first half, 'Where Do I Go?', a touching song that sums up his indecision about the draft. It's also when the cast strip off as they sing along and, just like in New York, I was too busy watching him deliver this poignant song to see all the flesh on display - but, obviously, I cast a quick glance over the rest of the cast at the end.

The second half of the show is darker with an extended bad trip scene and where we learn the fate of Claude. It opens with the great 'Electric Blues' (that Alex Harvey, a member of the original London Hair Band, recorded two versions of the song) and closes with 'Let The Sun Shine In' as the cast leave the stage through the audience and we're left with an echo of the song, a darkened stage and snow falling on a body on the stage. This is rather shocking since, throughout the show we've beet treated to movement and light and song and the echoing silence and gray stage at the end is a counterpoint to the previous two hours. And then the hippies return to sing the encore and we all got to our feet and then .... and then ...

... went up onto the stage to dance and clap along with the hippies. Yes, I did. I didn't in New York because my British reserve was on in full strength but on home territory I overcame the quiet reserve that's inbred in us and let my inner hippy out and I'm pleased I did. The stage got full very quickly - more people wanting to join in than there's space for on the Gielgud stage but I didn't care. It's very hot under all those lights! And on the way off the stage at the end I managed to have a few words with Caissie Levy who was sitting at the top of the ladder at the side of the stage and thanked her for a great show.

You must see this show - it is full of nonsense but it's optimistic and positive, hopeful for the future and full of songs that you know (whether you know it or not). I'm so glad that I saw it on Broadway and now have had the privilege of seeing it in London with mainly the same cast. I'm seeing it again in a couple of weeks time and I can't wait!

Let the sun shine in!